R-C not endorsing candidates

In 2004, Sen. Harry Reid, who was at the time one of the most powerful Democrats in the country, visited The Record-Courier seeking our endorsement.

We politely declined, not because of his party or position, but because The Record-Courier has had a long-standing policy against endorsing candidates.

Around that same time, back when The R-C had an independent editorial board, someone suggested we tackle endorsements. The majority of that citizen panel recoiled at the idea.

There are folks who believe the local newspaper should weigh in on who should hold local office. We disagree and have for the better part of a half-century.

Back in the old days when there would be at least a couple of competing media outlets in a community, endorsing candidates would be part of the fun.

But, we find that there are people standing in line with an opinion to share about who should hold office, and we fell our mission is to make sure those folks have an opportunity to voice those opinions.

Residents are not so removed from their government here that they can’t talk to their leaders on their own. The county commissioners are broadcast live two or three times a month on average, and several residents take advantage of public comment to air their views about the job they’re doing.

We know of publications that use endorsements to generate news, but we prefer to do that organically, by covering news as it happens.

We prefer to observe and report and let our readers come to their own conclusions about what they want from their leaders.